Siriusly In Love With You
by Simply Prettyful
Summary: My sisters are magic. I'm a muggle. My sister Lara is a Champion in the Triwizard Tournament and being her only living relative who does not attend Hogwawrts already, I get to visit. Who am I? I'm Ash. And I'm making friends with freaks- I mean the Marauders. T for now. My first Marauder fic. I no own anyone/-thing copyrighted
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Not a new project. Just something old I've touched up and decided to type up. I think this was the first ever Marauder era story I ever dreamt up. It's OC/Sirius time, baby! Whoop!

Dear Miss Ash Jones,

As you may know, your sister, Miss Lara Jones, has been chosen to represent Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Triwizard Tournament. As is tradition, the family of the three Champions are invited to attend the final task and watch.

Understanding your current situation, we here at the school formally invite you to stay at the castle for the week in which the task commences.

Yours sincerely,

Brook Bliss

Deputy Headmistress

So here I am. Miss Ash Jones. I'm on a red steam engine with four adults around me. Why am I going to watch my sister at her freaky school? Boredom. Plus, I get out of my own school. I'm also curious. I've heard about Hogwarts from Lara and Hunter. My sisters are witches, you see. Unlike them, I'm dazzlingly pretty and I'm completely normal thank you very much. Just kidding. If I ever end up dazzlingly pretty, I'd just about die... Unless it's natural and not magical.

It appeared I was one of two normal people on this train. I was the only British one too. Two of them don't even appear to speak English. That doesn't matter though. They haven't said a word to me. It's the pair of Frenchies that kept jabbering away to me. I was lucky to get a word in edgewise. Madame LaRue is a so called muggle like myself. Sounds like an insult, doesn't it? But Madame LaRue hadn't a single drop of magical blood in her. Like myself. She found out when she fell in love with Monsieur LaRue. Lucky woman. She hadn't had to deal with it since childhood. Unlike myself.

The train was slowing down, stopping at a station. Men stood ready and greeted us. It was early morning and I was starving. I didn't care about them and just got off, looking around. I followed the Frenchies to a... a thing drawn carriage. Winged and leathery horses were attached to the carriage. I don't want to know... The pair of... things... pulled the carriage up a long pathway, coming to a standstill at the entrance of the castle and by then, my breath was taken away.

The castle was amazing. Stone walled with many a window and tower... It was something out of a fairytale. Madame LaRue had to tap my shoulder to get me to stop gawking and follow them inside. The Bulgarians (as I had learned they were) stayed away from us. They talked only to Monsieur LaRue, really. And only sparingly.

We were led into a huge hall where a few long tables sat. Tapestries hung above four of them and there were six types all in all. Red one with a lion, green with a snake, yellow with a badger, dark blue with an eagle on it, light blue with three wands surrounded by ribbon on it and red and grey with a dragon's head on it. I was led to a room beside the only width-way table there was. This room was filled with shiny trophies and portraits.

Two kids, a boy and a girl walked in and were immediately embraced by their parents. I looked away, a little jealous. I was here because we had no parents... Then Lara, pale faced came in. I cleared my throat and waited for the light bulb to switch on.

Lara, with her ravened hair in a messy bun, looked at me for three or so minutes before asking incredulously, "Ash?"

"Let me check," I said and looked down, then back up. "Yes. It is I, the great and powerful Ash! I was invited to come watch your stupid tournament."

"If it's stupid, why are you here?" Lara asked.

"Because. It gets me out of exams. I already know what job I want and you don't need O levels to get it," I said with a smirk. "I want to own a bar one day."

"You keep thinking that," Lara said, "and you aren't going to get anywhere. Do you think Mum or Dad would have..."

We looked away from each other for a moment. I sighed and moved closer to my sister. She led me to go get something to eat. We sat down under a red tapestry. I grabbed some toast and a boiled egg with a goblet (a goblet!) of orange juice.

"I don't tend to think about that, no. The parents thing I mean..." I said quietly and started to eat my boiled egg.

"Maybe you should," Lara replied. She sighed. "How long are you here?"

"Just this week. It's Saturday today, right? Your task thingy is on Friday?" I asked, digging out the letter from my pocket. "So I'm here until next Saturday."

"Oh God... The things that can happen in a week," my sister sighed.

"What? I'm harmless here," I pouted.

"Until you realise that there are suits of armour with sharp and pointy weapons in most hallways," Lara said, closing her eyes. "Just... Just try and behave."

I faked acting hurt. I put my hand on my chest and gasped. "Me? Me not behave? I-I-I'm shocked, Lara! I truly am!"

"Oh ha ha," she said sarcastically. We ate in silence for a few more minutes. "Was the journey okay?"

"The journey was fine. I had to get up early but I didn't mind," I told her. "I met the other families. The Bulgarians don't seem to like Madame LaRue and I."

"Purebloods," Lara grumbled. "They're often prejudiced against muggles, muggle-borns and sometimes the odd halfblood."

"Why's that?" I asked, sipping some orange juice from a goblet. A freaking goblet!

"They believe in blood purity. One of the worst insults to give a muggle-born is mudblood," Lara scowled.

"I don't even understand it and I'm disgusted with that," I said, frowning at Lara.

"Yes, well... That's the world sometimes, Ash," Lara said as I finished my egg and drink. She looked around. "It's Saturday. Hunter won't be awake for another two hours for breakfast. The Marauders in the year below me won't be converging on the smell of food for another half an hour..."

"The who?" I asked, wrinkling my nose.

"Don't worry about them," Lara said and stood up. "Want a tour?"

"Sure," I shrugged and followed her out the hall.

The first thing she showed me was the forest edge where giant horses were stood, drinking what appeared to be single malt whiskey (according to the bottle I saw on the side of the fencing) and the huge carriage that apparently carried the French students and their headmistress here. Next, Lara showed me the lake. She told me about the giant squid inside but I shrugged that off, thinking she was only trying to scare me. Besides, I was too entranced with the gorgeous ship docked by the boathouse. It was like a real life pirate ship! Minus the skull and crossbones flag. My sister showed me a huge and ugly tree known as the Whomping Willow.

"Who's that then, Lara?" asked an arrogant sounding voice. My sister and I turned to see a rather handsome looking boy of about my age.

"This, Sirius Black, is my sister. You are not to talk to her. Your head will implode," Lara said.

"Oh, gee. Thanks!" I said dryly to Lara. "Next why don't you tell him that anything I touch burns and dies?"

"I could but you just did," Lara smirked and punched my arm. She looked at the handsome Sirius Black again. "Excuse us, we have the rest of the school to tour."

"What's your name?" Sirius asked me.

"I'm Ash," I said, looking him up and down. "Not short for anything. Just Ash. Like the tree. Better than being named after the dog star."

"I didn't know you had another sister, Lara," Sirius said, raising an eyebrow. "She's a clever one, isn't she."

"Not if you've seen how clumsy she can get," Lara said seriously. She put a hand on my furthest shoulder from her and turned me around. "Good bye, Sirius."

"Ta ta, Champion," Sirius said in a mocking tone, blowing her a kiss. I looked back over my shoulder and he winked.

I waited until we were strolling around some greenhouses before asking.

"What was that about?" I said as she steered me away from an apparently deadly and venomous plants of greenhouse six.

"They could kill you?" Lara replied, frowning. "And the grounds keeper, Ogg, wouldn't like that. Apollyon, the caretaker, wouldn't either, really. Nor would the Herbology teacher."

"No. That Sirius kid," I said, noting they had a grounds keeper named Ogg and a caretaker named Apolloyon.

"Oh him? He's just cocky and arrogant. Oh hey! He's like you," Lara said.

"Shut up," I scowled. "Is he one of those Marauding people?"

"The Marauders," Lara said, "are four boys in the year below me. Your year, I suppose. Anyway, they're four bullying pricks. James Potter and Sirius Black are the most mischievous pair of boys that Hogwarts has ever seen! They have this sensible friend, the one with his head screwed on right. Remus Lupin. He's a little odd. A little shabby, too, if you look closely. And there's this last one, Peter Pettigrew. He's a creeper if I ever did see one!"

"Oh wow... Sounds like a few boys at home," I commented.

"Yeah well... They aren't a patch on the Marauders," Lara said, guiding me to lunch back at the castle.

I swear. There was no funnier sight than that of my younger sister, Hunter's face when she saw me sit down opposite her for lunch and help myself to a pasty.

"Ash?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Yes?" I asked in reply.

"What are you doing here?" Hunter asked.

"Um... I came to spend the week with my sister who's in this contest thing?" I said, frowning at my baby sister.

"Oh. Well, I'm glad to see you," Hunter said, her crooked smile slipping onto her face. She moved her dark brown hair from her eyes. She gestured to her side where a girl was smiling politely at me. "This is Lily Evans. She lives in our town."

"Does she really? Nice to meet you, Lily. I'm Ash," I said, reaching my hand across.

Lily shook it and grinned. "You too. Hunter and Lara haven't really told me all that much about you."

Hunter went to straightening her yellow and black tie and Lara simply looked away. I rolled my eyes. "Haven't they? Oh, well, I guess they must be busy here at Hogwarts."

So nice to know my sisters talk about me. Heck, I wouldn't have cared if they bad-mouthed me to their freaky little friends! It's obvious they don't care about their sister. I played nice though for the next few hours before being shown where I was sleeping. I was to stay in a comfortable guest room near the Great Hall.

I was tired and exhausted. My sisters toured me around and had classes to attend themselves that day. I climbed onto my plush bed for the week and closed my eyes, drifting off not long after. I think it was the food I'd eaten. They must have done something... something weird to it. But then again, my sisters ate the exact same as I did.

The reason I say so is because once I fell asleep, I fell into dreaming. It was odd what I dreamt. My sister was in a competition. Lara was versus a chicken at chess. She wasn't winning. Four shadows stood over me, partially blocking my view. A buck, a rat, a wolf man thing and a shabby dog. I tried to shoo them away to watch my sister lose but they wouldn't budge. I called out to Lara but she didn't appear to hear me. Even in my dreams, she ignores me.

I woke up, a cold sweat running through me. I shivered and sat up. It was still dark. I shook my head, knowing I wouldn't sleep again for at least another two hours. There was a grandfather clock in the room that softly chimed, alerting me the time was actually four in the morning. I got out of the bed and stretched. What to do now? I had eavesdropped on Lara and Hunter enough times to understand that the students weren't allowed out of bed at night.

I sighed and went to the window for fresh air. If I were back in my bedroom, I'd sneak out onto the roof. I was inside a castle as a guest. There was no way I was sneaking on the roof any time soon. Any of them. I opened the window and sat beside it, watching the scenery. It was prettier at night, I thought. You couldn't guess that a bunch of freaks lived here.

"Come on!" a hushed voice said, not far from my window. I looked around and found I could see the Whomping Willow. Four boys were escaping away from the for once still tree. The light caught them and I saw their faces. In fact, they caught mine. They caught sight of my face (I must have looked paler than usual under the lighting of the room) and I raised an eyebrow as I recognised Sirius Black.

"What's she looking at?" a small and creeper-ish (I guessed this was Pettigrew and I hoped I was right) boy asked.

"Who? Me?" I asked, looking around. "Come on, boys. Whatcha doing out at this time? I thought students weren't allowed out of bed at a time like this."

"We... We aren't," said a bespectacled boy, looking at me like I was a wonder.

I sent him a scowl and then lessened my evil looks.

"What's your name?" asked the neatly dressed one of the group.

"I'm Ash," I said. "What about you guys? I mean apart from Sirius the Dog Star."

Sirius grinned and winked at me.

"You met her?" asked the bespectacled one.

"She's the Champion's sister," Sirius said. "Lara was showing her around the grounds when I met her."

"Didn't know Lara had another sister," said the neat one.

"Yeah, well, here I am," I grinned catishly. "Names. Please? You know mine."

The bespectacled one smiled and bowed. "Oh dear sweet maiden inside yonder castle, my name is James. James Potter."

I giggled and smiled. I couldn't help but laugh louder when I saw Sirius shoot him a look that read 'what the fuck?'

"I'm Remus," said the neat one.

"And this shrimp of a man?" I asked, gesturing to Mr Creeper.

"Peter Pettigrew," said the boy timidly.

"What're you awake for?" I asked, leaning out a bit more than I should have. Big mistake. The outer window sill crumbled a little and I lost my balance, heading head first for the ground. That's it. I'm dead. I screamed a little as I dived to my doom... and yelped when I was suddenly held up by my ankle about a foot from the ground. I stared madly at it then wondered. "Am I dead, yet?"

"Go on, Padfoot. Go get her down," said James' voice and footsteps later, I got a close up of Sirius Black's face.

"Hello there," Sirius smiled up at me.

"Oh hello," I scowled. "Why am I not dead and smashed into the ground?"

"Magic?" Sirius tried, raising an eyebrow.

"Great," I frowned. "Get me down."

"What, no please? Were you raised with no manners?" Sirius asked.

"Get. Me. Down," I said with gritted teeth.

"Fine, fine," Sirius said and for a few moments, all I saw was his legs. I felt him wrap his arms around my legs and then the enchantment let go. I was caught. Of course I was caught. He spun me around and held me bridal style.

"Okay. Thanks. Now put me down before I scream," I said and he let me down onto my feet. It was chillier than I expected. I tried to hide a shiver and then felt the weight of a cloak around my shoulders. I looked and found Sirius had given me his. I took it off and handed it back. "No thank you. I'm perfectly alright."

"Yeah. I can see that," Sirius shrugged.

I looked up at my window as the Marauders joined us. I sighed in exasperation. "How in the name of Freddie Mercury am I going to get back to my room? I got lost just walking around with my sister. I was lucky she knew where she was going or at least appeared that way."

"Your sister is in the same House as we are," Remus told me. "She's a Gryffindor. Hunter's in Hufflepuff."

"Those names sound stupid," I huffed.

All four boys looked at me. "What?"

"Says you who said the name of Freddie Mercury," said James.

"Freddie Mercury is actually a famous musician in the muggle world. He is the lead singer of the band, Queen," I informed them, huffing some more.

"The band Queen?" Peter asked, wrinkling his big nose.

"No. The name of the band is Queen," I corrected.

"What do they sing?" Remus asked.

"Are they good?" Sirius questioned.

"Are they good? Are they good? They'd have to be to be famous!" I said and scowled, crossing my arms.

"She seems like Padfoot's type," James laughed.

"Who?" I asked. More silly names.

"He means me and I disagree. My type is more of a witch that I actually know," he said.

I 'hmph'ed and turned towards the castle. "What's wrong with muggles then? Too dull for the likes of you freaks?" I snapped and walked towards the big doors. I could simply get lost. That usually worked for me.

Three and a half sets of hands grabbed hold of me.

"You don't want to go that way," Remus told me.

"Why ever not?" I scowled.

"Because... Because we know a better way," James said.

"Yeah," Peter backed up.

"I guess even wizard boys are odd," I sighed. I turned around, slapping away any lingering hands. "Okay. I give. How do we get inside. Furthermore, how do we get me back to my room?"

James turned to Sirius and whispered in his ear. A smile grew on Sirius' face and he nodded before turning around and running to a pitch thing that I had been shown earlier by Lara.

"Where's he going?" I asked the three remaining.

"He's gone to get the mode of transport," James told me.

"Oh great," I sighed. "Look, giving me directions would have done."

"Well, Padfoot's already gone to go get it now," James said. "Right, Moony? Wormtail?"

"Yeah," chimed the pair of boys.

"And what is it exactly?" I asked.

"It would be a surprise," James grinned.

"If it's a unicorn, I may throw up," I scowled.

James looked taken aback. "What? No. Besides, unicorns aren't good around boys. They love girls though.

"Great. A useless fact for a non-magical person about a completely magical creature," I said, pulling a sarcastic impressed face. "That will be so useful when I marry your mate, Sirius!"

"Who's marrying me?" Sirius asked, coming back, hiding something behind his back.

"I was being sarcastic," I said as if it were obvious. Which it was.

"Uhuh. Anyway," Sirius said and produced a sweeping broom. I frowned and the boys chuckled. "It's a broom."

"No thanks," I said. It was a flying broomstick? Ew! No! Hell no!

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Come on. It's faster than navigating your way through the labyrinth that is our school," said the handsome young man.

My scowl went deeper than any other I had frown this set of freaks. "And how am I meant to fly on that thing?" I asked seriously, eyeing the broom with disdain.

"Easy. It's my broom so I'll take you up there," he said, patting the broom. "Like a tandem thingy that muggles have."

"You mean a bicycle?" I offered.

"Yes. I think."

"Go on, Girly," said James. "Dare you to do it."

That did it.

"Probably too scared," Peter piped up.

"Shut your trap," I scowled at the pudgy boy.

"Ash, it's not that big a deal. It's not a long distance. It'll be over before you know it," Remus said soothingly. Damn it, that boy was smooth. I wasn't budging though.

"I think she's chicken," Sirius grinned at his friends.

My shoulders rose and my eyes basically bulged.

"Oh, I think she's mad at you, now, Padfoot," James said.

"Just what I was thinking, Prongs. She's kind of cute when she's angry, don't you think?" Sirius replied.

"I'll say. Not cuter than Lily Evans, though," James agreed. He smirked at me. "Alright, Girly. How about this. I double doggy dare you."

I looked up and saw his face. He thought he had won. I smiled and the four were thrown off.

I grinned. "Just what I was waiting for."

"Huh?" the boys chorused.

"I'm Ash. Ash Jones. And Ash Jones never backs down from a dare. Never ever," I said and walked over to Sirius. "I just like messing with you people."

Sirius shrugged and mounted the broom. He indicated for me to get on. I wrapped my arms around his waist and I had to admit... I was excited. He pushed off the ground and I looked down at his friends. Remus had been right. It wasn't that far. Sirius rounded above the Whomping Willow (far above it) and I got a great view of the lake in the moonlight. He flew straight into my room then. When he landed, I backed away from him and looked out the window.

"Um, Sirius?" I asked. "Where did they go?"

"Huh?" asked the dismounting Sirius. He hurried over. He ducked down and pointed at a hut on the forest edge. "Ogg must have heard us and came out to see what was going on."

"There's a scary man by the doors of the castle," I said stiffly.

"Oh. It was Apolloyon too. The ancient caretaker. Or his soon to be replacement, Argus Filch," he said. He took a peek. "Ah. That's Filch... Which means Apolloyon is on his way here!"

"Um... Okay... Hide under the bed," I said, getting into it. Sirius pulled a face as I snuggled down and got comfortable. Then came the footsteps and Sirius dived under the bed. The door burst open and I slowly looked up, my eyes half open. Playing groggy worked for me as I experienced the feeling every morning before school. And during school until about third lesson. I snapped at the elderly caretaker. "Yes? What?"

"Oh, uh, nothing, ma'am," said the caretaker. "Sorry."

And he closed the door. Sirius waited until the footsteps had died down before slowly climbing out.

"He'll be patrolling this corridor for hours now," he complained.

"Shut up, Black," I said.

"Can I stay here? Please?" he asked.

"Fine," I sighed.

He grinned. "Thanks."

"Just don't..." I yawned. I had been wrong earlier. I was going to fall asleep again. "Don't... Don't make any noise."

Sirius beamed. "I'll be quiet as a mouse."

And that is how I met Sirius Black and the other Marauders.


	2. Chapter 2

I certainly didn't expect to wake up with a guy's face inches from mine. I blinked, wide-eyed and then screamed. It woke the guy up and he fell off the bed in surprise. Then I stopped. I started to laugh instead.

"What's so bloody funny?" Sirius asked as he stood up, holding his head and wincing.

"I'm s-sorry," I laughed. "You- you were... You fell off the bed..."

I laughed a little more, Sirius cracking a cocksure smile and joining me. When the giggles subsided, I realised what I had found funny and looked at him a little angrier.

"What. Were. You. Doing on my bed?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Oh that? Nothing. I think I was so sleepy I forgot what I was doing," Sirius shrugged. He tossed his hair from his eyes. He was cute in a shaggy and not Freddie Mercury way when he did that. He caught me staring and sent me a new type of smile.

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "Okay, Freak. Get out of my room before someone else barges in and sees you in here," I said coldly and got out of bed, pointing at the door.

"Wow. You went from friendly to angry so quickly I think you just gained yourself the nickname of Ice Queen," Sirius said and winked. He sighed dramatically. "Well, here I go. Walking to the door... Oh wait. Do you have the time?"

"Time for what?" I asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I meant, what's the time?" he asked, thinking I didn't notice when he added under his breath the words, "Big Bad Wolf."

I scowled and turned to the grandfather clock. "Seven thirty in the morning," I told him.

"Brilliant. Why don't you follow me down to breakfast?" Sirius offered.

"Okay, Dog Star," she said, her tone cutting. "Firstly, I need to get changed, shower and all that morning routine stuff."

"Then do it then. I can wait," Sirius said. He wasn't getting it. I didn't want him to wait.

"Um... You're in here," I said.

"I may be charming, but I'm not a pervert," Sirius said and turned to face the wall, sitting down and crossing his legs. He looked around his shoulder. "Go on. All the good croissants will be gone if you don't get into the shower now."

"Croissants?" I asked. My mouth watered. I loved croissants. My mouth watered at the thought.

I scowled at him and he turned back to the wall. I licked my lips and zipped to shower. I spent at least five minutes in there and then hopped out, using my towel as a makeshift dress so I could go grab a skirt and a shirt. I was slipping my skirt on when I caught Sirius looking.

"Turn," I barked.

"Sorry. I just wanted the time," he said, staring at my legs.

"Sirius Black!" I said and grabbed a pillow to throw at him. My aim was off and it hit the wall beside him instead. Still, at least he turned around again.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Sirius asked.

I eyed the back of his head as I did the belt of my skirt up. "Sure, I guess."

"What don't you like about me?" he asked and I sighed when the words sank in.

"It's not you I don't like," I told him.

"Your sisters?"

"Partly."

"Well, what is it then? You called me a freak earlier. You called my friends freaks," Sirius said, turning a little.

"Turn," I ordered and sighed. "I... I don't like magic."

"Why?" he asked.

"I don't know... I guess I'm jealous of my sisters for having it," I admitted. Realising what I had said, I shoved my jacket onto my shoulders and approached him, squaring him up. "Tell them or anyone I said that and I'll hurt you. I may be muggle, but I have ways."

Instead of looking threatened, Sirius grinned. "Fine. But only if you kiss me," he said.

I let him go and stepped away from him. "You what?" I asked, not quite believing my ears.

"Kiss me and I will keep my lips sealed," he smirked.

"No way! I'm saving my first kiss for someone I like," I scowled. "A normal person like myself."

"Oh well," Sirius said. When I said my first kiss, I must have given him more ammo because he was out the door before I could reply.

"Hey!" I yelled and ran after him

"Sorry, Ice Queen," Sirius laughed as he ran. "Looks like I'm telling everyone!"

"No!" I shouted and ducked my head down, watching my legs as I took longer strides. I sprinted after the annoying young man known as Sirius Black. He looked over his shoulder and saw me approaching, speeding up himself. But I was on the track team at school. I was a sprinter and I was god damn fast! I caught him up easily and grabbed his wrist.

"You dare tell anyone!" I said quietly, through my teeth.

"Or what, muggle?" said Sirius, winking at me.

"What am I to you? A new challenge? A conquest? I'm not a prize, freak," I seethed. I started to squeeze his wrist and Sirius' eyes bulged in pain as I put on more and more pressure.

"Oh look! Padfoot's holding hands with Girly," came the annoyingly cocky voice of James Potter. I looked to find him with the other Marauders watching the show.

"Let me go?" Sirius whimpered.

"Promise me you won't tell, Dog Star, or I can do worse. Especially when I know there are suits of armour with sharp , pointy weapons attached," I growled.

Sirius looked up at his friends then back to me. He groaned as I tightened around his wrist. Before I could register, he used this to his advantage and pulled me into a near by cupboard.

"Wha- Hey!" I said as he closed the door behind us.

"Fine. I promise," he whispered. "I won't tell, I promise."

I let go of his wrist and he groaned.

"How does it hurt more when you let go?" he asked.

"Karma," I grinned. I had perfected my steel vice grip when I was twelve and people thought that because I was a loner, they could bully me easily. I learned to make it hurt though. And hurt it did for those who pissed me off.

"Ow," he groaned, clutching his wrist to his chest. He went for the door and couldn't open it.

"Why isn't it opening?" I asked.

"I don't know," Sirius said and brought out his wand. He pointed it at the door. "Alohomora!"

The door clicked but it wouldn't budge. I could hear Sirius' friends outside giggling.

"Argh! Prongs! Let us out!" Sirius yelled through the door.

"Aren't you comfy in there with Girly?" James asked.

"No. No he is not," I shouted back.

"Aw. Maybe we should leave you to settle your differences," James smirked and the light inside the cupboard went out.

I yelped and stepped back, losing my footing before falling onto my arse. "Ow!"

"That's what she said," I distantly heard James laugh.

"Prongs! Come back!" Sirius called out. "James! James! Moony! Let us out! Wormtail! Come back! Guys? JAMES! REMUS! PETER!"

By the sounds of how desperate Sirius sounded, they had walked away.

"Nice friends you got there," I scowled.

"Shut up," Sirius snarled.

"What? You're angry at me? It's your fault we're inside a scarily dark closet," I shot back.

"As well as being jealous of your sisters, you're afraid of the dark?" Sirius asked.

I drew my knees under my chin and mumbled, "My dad died in the dark... all alone... without anyone to help him... I guess I am. A little claustrophobic too..."

"Well don't worry. The broom cupboards only start to shrink when the doors locked," Sirius said in a tone I couldn't translate.

My eyes widened and I looked around. My breathing quickened.

"Lumos," muttered Sirius and blue light filled the cupboard from the tip of his wand. "Any ideas?"

"Nope," I said, my voice giving away that I was on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Hey, I was joking. They don't shrink at all," Sirius said, kneeling in front of me.

"We're... in... a... fucking... small... cup... board..." I said in between gasps. "We're... We're going... to die... in here!"

"No we aren't," Sirius said, looking worried. "Um... Ash, I need you to help me think."

"I'M NOT KISSING YOU!" I screamed.

"No. Not that... but it would be nice- I'm kidding!" Sirius said.

"Do... Do you... have classes... today?" I asked.

"Nope. It's the weekend," he said.

And my temper flared again. "My sisters... said they... has classes... to attend!"

"Your sisters ditched you in a castle that's more confusing than a toaster?" Sirius asked.

"Toaster?" I asked, gasping for breath. I kept looking around nervously.

"Yes. It's a muggle device, isn't it?" Sirius asked.

"What... do... you think... a toaster... does?" I asked, wrinkling my nose at Sirius. I was panicking but talking to him was calming me down a lot.

"Um... Well... I think it's a creature that, like... toasts things. Like people, wooden things-" Sirius said and I started laughing.

"A toaster is our way of making toast, Dog Star," I laughed.

"It is?" Sirius asked, frowning.

"Yes," I giggled. "The clue is in the name."

Sirius frowned. "Oh... Well, you should hear what Peter thinks it is. He thinks a toaster is some sort of army man."

I laughed harder and Sirius grinned. I was beside myself with laughter. "Sirius... Th-that's better than-than your guess! Your guess is just-just so... Oh my Freddie Mercury... It's so funny! A monster!"

"Alright, alright. I think you've tortured enough," Sirius smiled and helped me up. "But you did give me an idea. Cover your face with your arms."

"What? Why?" I asked, still laughing a little.

"I'm going to blast the door apart," he said and my arms flew over my face.

"Sirius?" I asked from beneath my arms.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I just realised I'm not wearing shoes," I said.

"Then back away too," he said and when I was at the very back of the cupboard he said a spell followed by a crash.

I looked and found the door's middle was in pieces. Sirius stepped through it and I practically leapt out, clearing all the rubble. I hugged the opposite wall and turned around as Sirius fixed the door again with a wave of his wand. He turned and flipped his wand up in the air, catching it and winking at me.

"My shoes..." I mumbled.

"Oh, right..." Sirius said. "Come on. Let's go get them then I'll show you the kitchens."

"People make their own food here?" I asked, curious.

"No the elves make the food," he said and I frowned, still curious.

"Seriously, Sirius?" I asked him and then cracked a small smile at my pun. "Sorry. That was accidental."

"Yeah, well, I've heard that one loads of times. My brother likes to mock my name too. Thing is. His name is Regulus," Sirius grinned.

"Oh, I get it," I giggled. "Regulus regularly-"

"What about me?" asked a voice and a younger and darker haired version of Sirius himself walked into the hallway, a swagger in his steps and four boys with him.

"Do the boys here travel in packs or something?" I asked Sirius.

Regulus looked at me, confused. "And you are?"

"I'm Ash," I scowled.

"Sirius?" Regulus asked, facing his brother. "Who is this? Another whore of yours?"

"You'd know all about whores, wouldn't you"? Sirius shot back and approached me, keeping them away from me, his wand in his hand still.

"Oh, I see how it is. Your new girlfriend, Sirius?" Regulus laughed and his lackeys laughed with him.

"Ew. No," I said. "As if I'd date this freak. Or any of the freaks in this draughty, old castle."

"Who are you?" Regulus asked again.

"I told you. I'm Ash. Ash Jones. My sister's attend this stupid school," I said, my anger rising. "You may know them. Hunter and Lara Jones."

"Oh them? Yes. Yes, I know them," said Regular Regulus. "A two bit whore and a cheating skank."

My eye twitched. He said what about my only remaining family? I may not like them. I may have been jealous of them. I may have slightly agreed to with him. My voice ran away before I could catch it and escaped my mouth with the word, "What?"

"You heard," Regulus said.

Sirius must have seen me turn stiff and stepped aside. He must have understood me too. I took steps toward the boy as he continued calling my sisters names. I only wanted to punch him for those things. When he moved onto my mother, I wanted to murder him.

"And your mother must be really filthy because that Lara is as mudblooded as they come," was the last thing Regulus said before getting a bloodied nose then a knee to the groin. Repeatedly, as Regulus keeled over, I brought my knee up to hurt him. My knuckles were white by the time I was finished with Regulus black.

I turned back to Sirius. "Right... Let's go get those shoes," I said and led the way back to my room. Surprisingly, I knew where it was. I guess chasing Sirius must have helped me a little.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked as he closed the door of my room behind us.

"Fine. I just kicked the crap out of a foul mouthed, little, prejudiced, evil, narrow minded, stupid little boy who thought it wise to insult my mother... and my sisters in front of me."

"Remind me never to piss you off again," Sirius said.

"Why? It means I get to hurt you again, Sirius," I smirked.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at me as I pulled on a pair of boots. "You're more exciting than any of the girls here. Except, I think you and Marlene would get along great."

"Marlene? Is she a witch?"

"Yes. But I think you, Argus and Apolloyon are the only non-magical people in this whole castle," Sirius said.

"Argus and Apollyon? Why aren't they magical?" I asked. "I thought you only lived here if you were magic."

"They're from magical families, yes, or they wouldn't have known about Hogwarts," Sirius explained. "But I think it's a Hogwarts tradition that a squib be the caretaker."

"Squib?" I asked.

"Oh, that's a non-magical person born from a magical family," Sirius added.

"Oh... So if my family was all magical... I'd be a squib?" I asked and was surprised to see Sirius smile a little at me.

"No. No, squibs are rare. You'd most probably have magic, too," Sirius said, edging closer.

"You know something, Dog Star?" I said, folding my arms. "You ain't half bad for a freak."

"And you too for a muggle," Sirius laughed and grinned. "Are you still up for that croissant? I have a feeling that's where my mates have gone."

"Sure," I shrugged. Only, in my mind, I was repeating this: FEEDMEFEEDMEFEEDME! I hid it all with a smile.

"Great because I'm starving," Sirius grinned.

I walked to the door and Sirius followed. He showed me the staircase, a thing that Lara didn't show me earlier because she 'had classes' and so on. Sirius explained that the stairs often liked to change. There were several floors and his common room was on the top floor because he lived in Gryffindor Tower. He led me down to the bottom of the staircase though and made a moment of a huge painting of a fruit bowl

"Um... Am I meant to be impressed?" I asked. I'm no artist. I couldn't draw for taffy not that it mattered.

"You will be when you tickle the pear," Sirius said.

"Um... Sirius, I just decided you're an alright kinda guy... I'm not going to f-" I said but he cut across me.

"No! No! I mean, that's how you access the tunnel," he said and face palmed. "Oh God... This does sound dirty..."

He sighed and stepped up to the painting and raised a hand, tickling the pear. He stepped back and grinned at me when the portrait swung open, revealing a tunnel. He was right. It does sound wrong.

He pulled me through and I found myself inside a huge kitchens. The room was cosy and filled with a light that made everything look slightly goldy. There were peculiar creatures running around, cooking and such. In the middle of it all saw three boys, stuffing their faces. My temper went up a little as I stormed towards them, ignoring the little creatures.

"You," I snarled, grabbing James by the scruff. "You left us inside that shrinking cupboard!"

"Shrinking?" he asked, looking confused.

"She's claustrophobic," Sirius explained.

"Oh Hell," James said then looked really apologetic. "I'm sorry. I wouldn't have done that if I knew."

"Why didn't alohomora work?" Sirius asked.

"I used the jamming jinx," James informed him as I let him go. "How did you get out?"

"Bombarda," Sirius replied. "Then fixed the door using reparo."

"Nice work," Remus said, reading a cook book titled 'Cooking Blue for Beginners' and turning the page.

"Thank you," Sirius replied and sat down. He looked at a creature near by. "Can you get a criossant for the lady?"

"Of course, Master Black," said the creature.

"What are those things?" I asked, sitting on a seat beside Remus.

"House elves," Peter piped up.

I didn't like Peter. I didn't like him at all. I decided I'd ignore him.

"Pipe down," I told Mr Pettigrew Creeper. I looked at James and Sirius, not wanting to annoy Remus from his book.

Nevertheless, Remus replied to me. "House Elves. They do the cooking, cleaning and maintenance. Don't know where Hogwarts would be without them."

"My family has one. Kreacher," Sirius said and shuddered. "The most vile, little suck up of an elf you'd ever meet if you ask me. He adores Regulus."

"That arsehole is actually liked by someone?" I asked, scowling.

"Yes," Sirius sighed. When James looked intrigued, Sirius clued him in on my little kickboxing session with Regular Regulus.

"She really did that?" James asked him then looked at me. "You did that?"

"Yeah," I shrugged. "He insulted my family."

"Well done," Remus sighed and turned another page in his book. "You've done something we've never really attempted."

"Kick him in the bollocks numerous times after giving him a bloody nose?" I asked the neat one of the group.

"Yup," Remus said. "Tempted to but we mainly use magic."

I frowned and remembered I was surrounded by magical freaks... and Sirius the magical freak who was a sort of friend to me now. I looked around at the elves and shivered, scowling.

"Hey, Ash?" Sirius said, getting my attention. One of the elves were bowing in front of me, offering a tray with two croissants, butter and a selection of jams.

"Oh... Um, thank you," I said politely and took the tray.

The elf grinned at me and practically skipped off.

"They really love serving people," James explained when I looked as it skipped off with an odd expression.

"Oh," I said and nodded. "Cool..."

I started to eat, listening as the boys joked and laughed until both of my croissants were gone and I'd made a bit of a mess with the jams. Before I could even say anything, an elf practically fell over itself to get to me and take it. He carried it off to be washed.

I caught Lara's name and looked up. "What about my sister?" I asked, settling into my seat.

"She did well in the last task. She was the only one of the girls who succeeded in it. They had to grab this golden egg thing which would have something useful for the final task in it," Remus told me.

"She opened it last week," Peter said.

"She hasn't told anyone what's inside it," James told me.

"Hm... Doesn't sound like Lara at all," I said. "Oh wait. Who am I kidding? Sounds completely like my sister. You didn't know about me, remember? She's good at keeping things from people. Hunter too."

"You're still sore over that?" Sirius asked. "I thought, once you met my friends and I, you'd forget that."

"Stop being full of yourself, Dog Star," I laughed and rolled my eyes at him. "You guys are alright but I still hate magic."

"She hates magic?" Remus and Peter asked.

"Yeah. I do. Problem?" I asked them, raising my eyebrow.

"No. Not at all," Remus said and Peter cowered away.

I sat back and grinned at these boys. Maybe magic wasn't all that bad... when it was people like this. They were my kind of people. I didn't see why Lara didn't like them.

"So... What are you guys doing later?"

"Well, James wants to fly, Remus is studying and Peter has a detention. I've got nothing to do," Sirius said and winked at me.

"Let me rephrase," I said. "What are we going to to do later?"

"We?" James asked.

"I may as well hang out with you guys. My sisters don't want me around," I shrugged. "Or that's the way I see it."

"Um... We could sneak to Hogsmeade?" James offered around.

"That's the town near by, right?" I asked.

"Yeah," Remus said and looked at James. "How is she going to get there unnoticed?"

"We can use the cloak," Sirius offered.

I listened as they planned. They planned to take me out for an evening at the village. I watched as they argued over what to do.

"We can go to the Shrieking Shack," James offered.

"Last time we took a girl there, you locked her in," Remus said.

"And?" James asked as if what he did was completely normal.

"And that's not what we're going to do with a perfectly nice muggle girl," Remus said.

"Okay... So... Honeydukes?" Sirius asked.

"Oh! Yes. We can buy more sugar mice and sugar quills and you can buy her a chocolate heart," James joked, pushing Sirius a little.

"Very funny," Sirius and I said at the same time. I raised an eyebrow at him and he shook his head.

"Well, I don't think she'd want a chocolate heart that has valves and everything anyway," James said.

I snorted. "James! I'm a girl. I don't care what chocolate looks like. Because I'll have eaten it before noticing," I told him. "That's the way to a girl's heart. Give her chocolate. Or just get to know her. Actually, you talk to her, get to know her, give her the odd sweet and possibly cliché gift and then you be all nice and sincere and ask her out."

"How many relationships have you had?" Sirius asked, looking confused and interested.

"None. But I'm a girl. I know these things from being my gender," I laughed. "Duh!"

Peter and Remus looked around to James and Sirius who looked at each other as if this were news to them.

"Never used that?" I asked them.

"Not once."

"Nope."

I tutted. "Did those relationships last?"

"Not really."

"For a while... but not long..."

I smiled. "James, use it once in a while. Sirius, clean up your act and stop flirting every time you see a girl then do that."

"I do not flirt when ever I see a girl," Sirius scowled. "If I did that then there would be a lot of stalkers following me."

"Point taken but that's not really the way to a girl's heart," I said. "Wait. I forget. Why are we talking about this. What time is it?"

"Noon ish," James said, looking at a clock.

"Shall we go to the tree?" Remus offered.

"Sure," James and Sirius said. Sirius helped me up and winked at me again.

I rolled my eyes at the boy and sighed. Another wink. I think I'm going to have to get a clicker to count how many times he does that.


	3. Chapter 3

That evening was amazing.

I'd been trying to figure out how they'd not get noticed all day. I found out as we walked through a secret passage way. I watched as the boys (except for Remus for some reason) turned into animals. James was a stag. Peter was a rat. Sirius was a black, shaggy dog. Being a dog sweetened his disposition. Remus and I hid underneath a cloak. I felt silly and thought people were going to see us. But we were undetected.

I temporarily forgot that I hated magic when I walked into the sweet shop, Honeydukes. I must have spent so much time in there because Sirius was the only one left. We laughed and walked to Hogsmeade where the barmaid served us my new favourite drink which was called a butterbeer. I tried the firewhiskey too and soon found myself as well as the boys slightly tipsy. So we went along and found another bar, The Hog's Head, where we got even more drunk. Remus was the sensible one and didn't drink. He just followed and cleaned up our mess.

The five of us went off to see a creepy old house called the Shrieking Shack.

"I dare you to go closer," I said to James.

James scoffed and walked a part of the pathway, turning back and poking his tongue out.

I smirked, cuddling up to Sirius' arm. "I bet you can't go and touch the wall then."

"Uh, Ash?" Sirius asked as James went off to do my dare.

"Yeah?" I asked, snuggling in.

"What are you doing?"

"You're warm... and I'm stopping myself from falling over..." I told him.

Sirius sighed and stroked my head, shrugging at Remus and Peter's looks. "What can I say?" he asked them. "I'm irresistible."

I frowned and let him go. "I thought your name was Sirius," I pouted.

"Did it!" James yelled over.

"Not yet," I called back, giggling.

"What?" James shouted back.

"I think she's had enough," Remus said, approaching me and reaching for a bottle of butterbeer I was cradling.

"Don't touch me," I said smiling. I decided to adopt a Scottish or Irish accent for some odd reason. God knows why. "I'll play knot tying with your innards."

"Pleasant," Remus sighed and backed off. He then started to run at me. I yelped and ran down the pathway toward the Shack.

"Remus!" Sirius scolded and ran after me.

I passed the returning James and not only threw myself at the house but managed to get inside and lock the door. I sighed and settled by the door, listening as the door handle rattled.

"Ash!" Sirius' voice called from beyond the door.

"Ash isn't home right now," I giggled.

"What does that mean?" Sirius asked, confused.

"Shh," I whispered and put a finger on the door to quieten it down.

"Sirius. Just use alohomora," Remus' voice came.

"Hold on. Apparently, she isn't home," said the drunk Sirius. "We'll have to wait."

I giggled and drank some more.

"Oh, give over," Remus said. "Alohomora."

The door clicked and I squealed when I saw the four figures beyond the doorway. I scrabbled up the wooden stairs and ran to a door. I opened it and walked in. I looked around and saw a piano. "Oh... Have I walked into a horror film?"

"What's a horror film?" asked James as the boys walked in.

"It's a film and it's filled with horror," I giggled.

"Uhm... I still don't know what that is," Peter said, "but I think this was once a parlour."

"Shut it, Peter the Creeper," I growled his way. I approached the piano and pressed a key. A C note sang from the instrument which was in great need of being tuned. I smiled at the boys and drank some more of my firewhiskey. "Remus? You're so smart. Can you play piano?"

Remus rolled his eyes and approached. I kept my bottle away from him as he sat and started playing a tune. I didn't know it but it was pretty.

"Sirius," I said, giggling. I downed the last of the bottle and put it on the piano. "Dance with me!"

So Sirius and I danced. He spun me and twirled me. I was having the time of my life. James took the next dance and despite disapproving of my drunken state, Remus ended up handing the piano over to Sirius to play and he danced with me too. Even Peter got a dance.

There was a secret tunnel in the house that led back to Hogwarts. Remus went first and the rest of us followed. We didn't go back to the castle at first. We found a spot and laid on the grass, watching to stars.

"I want to go up there one day," I told the boys, pointing vaguely up.

"Into the air?" James asked.

"No... Space," I said. I giggled and put on an astronaut voice. "Space. The final frontier. One small step for man, one giant leap thingy for mankind."

The boys laughed with me.

"So how about truth or dare?" Sirius asked.

"Maybe when we get back to the common room... Wait... We can't go back there like this," Remus frowned.

"We could go back to the Shack," Peter offered.

"Ew... No," I giggled. I bit my lip, watching the stars. "I know! Let's go to my room."

"Your room? You had a fit this morning when you woke up with me on your bed," Sirius laughed.

"Shh, Dog Star, shh... They'll think I'm a harlot," I giggled and sat up. "No. I mean, we can go to my room and play truth or dare. As long as it's nothing dirty."

"Agreed," said Sirius. "Or dangerous when it comes to Miss Muggle here."

"Shut up," I said, poking my tongue out at Sirius. Then I had a thought. "Your broom is still in there anyway."

"Oh right... Why didn't I just fly out the window?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know," I sighed. I looked at the other boys then lay back down. About a minute later, I pointed excitedly. "Oh! Shooting star! Everyone make a wish!"

"But-" Remus started and shut up when I glared at him.

"Make. A. Wish, killjoy," I instructed.

"Fine," Remus said and closed his eyes.

I wished too. I wished that one day, I'd experience my own type of magic. I sighed and sat up, looking at the four boys. "Can we do truth or dare another time?" I yawned. "I'm tired."

"Sure," James said and helped Peter up.

Sirius helped me up. I stumbled on the way up so Sirius just decided that it would be easier if he just carried me. So I got a piggyback ride. Oh! A Sirry-back ride! I'm an utter genius.

I nuzzled into Sirius' neck. "You smell nice, Sirry..."

"Sirry? That's a new one. Now I'm known as Sirius Black, Sirius, Padfoot, Oi Handsome, Dog Star, Freak and Sirry," Sirius laughed. "And thank you."

"I don't wanna go home," I told him and the boys as we walked into my room.

"Why?" James asked.

"The other orphans are mean," I said and snuggled into Sirius a little more before he let me down onto my bed. I wouldn't let him go so easily though. I pulled Sirius down with me and snuggled into his side. "I mean, there's this one girl. And she's called Caroline. And she hates me. She calls me names. I like to punch her when she says these things..."

I yawned and settled into Sirius some more, seeing the looks on the other guys' faces. I shrugged.

"And the man who runs the place is creepy. I think he touches some of the kids," I divulged, my voice getting sleepy. "He tried it on me once but I got away... He's tried it a few times, actually... I don't know about my sisters... They're only around in the summer holidays..."

James looked horrified, Remus and Peter looked shocked beyond belief and I felt Sirius' grip on me (he'd put his arm around me) tighten.

"And there's the scars too," I said. "But I don't wanna show you them because they're on the tps of my legs... and on my hips..."

"Scars?" Sirius asked, his voice sounding distant in my ears and yet very angry.

"Mhm... Scars... From the whip... One time, he managed to get me coming out the showers... and he tied me up... and he hurt me... and he could have done worse to me if it weren't for the doorbell..." I said, drifting off.

I closed my eyes once... twice... three times and drifted off into my nightmare. There I was, under the stars again, on the roof of the orphanage. I could hear footsteps. At first, this confused me. No one comes onto the roof at night. Or during the day for that matter. But this was a dream and my brain decided it was normal just this once. So I looked up. No one was around. I stood up, turning and still looking.

"Hello?" I asked.

No answer.

"Hello?" I tried again.

No answer.

Finally, I turned and saw Mad Mike looming over me. Mad Mike was twenty eight and grinning madly at me. He grabbed my wrist and I frowned.

"Get off," I told Mad Mike.

He didn't.

I tried to yank away my hand but his grip was too strong. The carer laughed and dragged me away to a room I recognised as my own. He flipped the light switch and everything changed. My bed was gone. My posters were gone. My knick-knacks were gone. This made me livid but my lividness was short lived as Mad Mike threw me to the middle of the room where I lay, sprawled out. I screamed as he walked over, unzipping his trouser zip.

I woke up when Sirius shook me. It was early morning and the sun was dawning. I breathed quickly, shallowly. I hid my face into Sirius' chest.

"Oh God... I hate nightmares," I said, sounding muffled.

"It's okay," Sirius said sleepily. "Your thrashing made me wake up, though."

"S'ry," I said quietly and removed myself from the wizard's arms. I put a hand on my head. "Ugh... My mouth tastes like squirrel..."

"How do you know what that tastes like?" Sirius asked.

"Someone dared me to lick one once. I was nine and the kid was older and somehow managed to catch one and keep it in a box," I told him.

"You're funny when drunk," Sirius said, grinning at me.

"I am?" I asked. Then I remembered something. "Sirius? It's Monday."

"So?"

"So you have classes today," I said.

Sirius sat up for a moment and the moment it registered, his eyes widened. "I forgot we had classes!"

"Shall we wake up the three musketeers?" I said, pointing at the three boys sprawled on the floor around the bed.

"Well, we have to," Sirius sighed.

When we shook Remus and told him he had lessons today, he shot upright and looked around. James took a little more convincing. And by convincing, I mean that Sirius went and muttered something I couldn't hear into his ear. Peter was the toughest. I enjoyed my idea of tipping water on him.

Remus stood over him and pointed his wand at the sleeping boy. "Aguamenti!" he said loudly and water rushed from the tip of his wand.

Peter spluttered to life, shooting upright and banging his head on a shelf then falling over again and then carefully standing again. I had to admit, I could see why they allowed Peter Creeper to stick around. He was comedy relief.

"We have to get back to the common room," Remus was saying as I came out of the bathroom, dressed and ready for anything.

"Can I come?" I asked the four.

James raised an eyebrow. "You want to come to Gryffindor Tower?"

"Where your sister may see you?" Remus added.

"With the dashing Marauders?" Sirius put in.

I shrugged and nodded. "Mhm. I want to see what it looks like."

The boys looked at each other.

"Alright then," Remus said.

"Yay!" I cheered and laughed. I walked to the door and looked around. I stepped out, the boys following. I turned to them. "Lead the way."

They led me to the staircase and we went all the way up until we reached a portrait of a Fat Lady.

"Beatlejuice," Remus said to the drowsy (and moving!) portrait and the picture swung open.

"Do all pictures in the wizarding world move? And talk?" I asked quietly as we walked into the Gryffindor common room. I forgot any answer I was given because I was distracted by looking around the red and gold room. There was a sqaushy and new sofa and some new looking arm chairs. There were tapestries on the walls and the fireplace still had a few cinders left. It took my breath away. "Oh wow..."

"Come on," Sirius said and took my hand. The boys led me up some stairs and into a door. Then more stairs and Sirius walked me into a room where a boy was sleeping. "Ta da!"

It was a circular room with five beds and a boiler heater thing in the middle which grumbled every now and then. There were five beds. One looked like it was made in a hurry- obviously Remus'. Another looked like a slob lived there- I instantly pinned this as Peter's bed. One had a bedside table with a glasses case on it- James' bed. The only other unoccupied bed was plainly unmade with the sheets twisted and could only be Sirius' bed. The occupied bed had the odd wrapper on it and plenty of crumbs.

"That's Frank," Sirius said quietly, pointing to the sleeping boy. "Frank Longbottom. He's cool."

I nodded. I pointed at his bed. "Mind if I go sit down."

"You knew that was mine?" Sirius asked, laughter hanging onto the tip of his voice.

I nodded. "The neatly made in a hurry one is Remus'."

"Very good," Remus said, going to stand by his bed.

"The one that looks like a complete slob sleeps in it is Peter's," I listed. "Glasses case on the table is James' and the other one is occupied which leaves that one as yours."

"You're good," James complimented.

"Thanks," I grinned. "Simply logic."

"You'd be a Ravenclaw, I reckon," Peter said and the other (awake) boys shot him a glare.

"I'm not smart enough according to Hunter," I said, sitting on Sirius' bed.

Not one of them minded me sitting there whilst they started to undress and change. Sirius even did it slowly, winking at me. In fact, whilst they waited for one another to finish showering, Sirius even sat next to me and decided to flirt. Yay for me! Not. It was rather funny though, having him sat there, nearly starkers in his boxers. I smirked at him when he winked- yet again- at me.

"See anything you like?" Sirius asked as Remus jumped in the shower after Peter.

"Oh, most definitely," I giggled.

"Really?" he asked, his voice a deeper tone than usual. He was mocking flirting altogether with me. I could tell because of the way he wiggled his eyebrows. It made me laugh.

"Really," I replied.

"So, baby, what you doin' tonight?" Sirius asked and I was in hysterics with the voice he put on to say it.

"How about truth or dare with you and a bunch of friends?" I asked, serious.

Sirius shrugged. "Sure, baby. I'll bring the butterbeer."

"Oh great," I said and winked at him for a change as Remus came out of the shower.

"You're a funny one," Sirius told me as James went in the shower.

"Am I?" I said.

"Oh please," Remus said, drying his hair and face. "If you two stopped flirting for a moment, you'd see that Peter's getting freaked out and Frank is awake."

I turned and waved at the awake Frank who was staring at me oddly. "Hi, Frank. Nice to meet you. I'm Ash."

Frank blinked then waved back and sat up. "What's a girl doing here? And who is she?"

"That's Ash. She's a mate of ours now. The extra Marauder," said Sirius.

"Me? A Marauder?" I asked, grinning. "Cool!"

"Ash is Lara's muggle sister," Peter told Frank. "She's nicer than Lara by about..."

"A lot," Remus and Sirius said at the same time.

"Oh. Nice to meet you, Ash," Frank said, reaching for a pair of glasses on his bedside table. He pushed them up the bridge of his nose and blinked, staring at me for a few seconds. His face went a little red.

"Yeah," I said and looked back to find Sirius was hiding giggles behind a hand. I mock slapped his arm. "Dog Star! Quit it!"

"Wh-what?" Sirius asked, still trying not to laugh.

I sighed. "Boys. Well... Most of them. Can't live with them and can't cover them in cheese fondue."

"Why would you do that?" Sirius asked.

"Because, stupid, I'm Ash. I'm Ash and I'm perfectly crazy at the best of times," I said and poked my tongue out at him.

James eventually got out of the shower and Sirius got in, winking once again at me as he shut the door. I sighed and looked at the others. Peter and Remus were already dressed again.

"Does he always flirt with people?" I asked

"I don't think I've ever seen him wink at the same person as much as he has you," James said, buttoning his shirt up. "And I live with him."

"What happened?" I asked.

"He ran away from home. Couldn't take his parents anymore," Remus told me.

"So he came to mine where he now lives," James said. "Peter, put that down. It's mine and it's sharp."

Peter put a shaving knife down. Apparently, Potter liked to shave old timey style.

"So... If you take away the fact he's occupying the same house as his best friend, he's actually homeless, pennyless and has no family left?" I asked.

"There's his cousins who attend here too. Nymphadora Tonks in Hufflepuff for example. She's an metamorphmagus," Remus told me. "That means she can change appearance at will. She likes going around with the brightest hair she can manage. Usually bubble gum pink."

"Nice... Can any wizard be metamorphmagus?" I had to ask.

"No. There are wizards and witches who can change into animals but that would be an animagus," Remus informed me as James fell over, hopping into his trousers. I was too interested in what Remus was telling me.

"So... Are...?" I asked, not sure if it was okay to mention in front of Frank.

"Yes," Remus said, helping James up.

It gave me a bit to think about.

A/N: I know this one is a little short but I got a lot of Sirius/OC in this thing. Please tell me what to think in the provided comment box. ^_^


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey y'all out there. Just wanna say that I'm super happy to say this story has already been favourited by three different people! I'm glad you're all enjoying this. It means a LOT to me. I haven't used in so long that I'm having to re-learn the things on the panel again. I migrated to wattpad back last June, I think. June or July 11th. This story has not been published there yet. However, the last chapter was the last of what I had originally. So here I am... writing some more... with no real plot to follow any more... ENJOY!**

Amazing what boredom drives you to do when your friends have lessons all day. In fact, I hung around in the kitchens most the time, reading a book. Mum would have been proud. I was reading an actual romance novel... and it bored me to tears. Elves kept asking if I wanted anything. When I was hungry and one of the foods offered piqued my interest, I accepted the offer, eating slowly to stop the short creatures from pestering me too much.

I had to move on to my next novel around noon, the romance of the current one sucking the life out of me. I had a vampire novel now instead. It was about a witch who becomes a vampire and she was super bad ass. She still had a romance thing though and one of the reasons I kept reading was because there was non-descriptive smut in it and I was somehow intrigued by how the whole thing was done. Or at least of Lizzy the vampire did it with Eric the hot guy vampire.

When dinner came, I was joined by James and Remus. I looked up from my book of which I was already halfway through.

"Hey guys," I said.

"Frank told your sister that your interested in Sirius," Remus said quickly and flinched.

"And now your other sister knows," James said. "They're looking for you, Girly."

"Ah, let them look," I said and looked back to my book.

"They got Sirius and Peter," Remus said.

Sighing, I shut my book. "Okay, guys. Let's go..." Tucking my book under my arm, I followed them out from the kitchens. Then I had a thought, "Hey, guys? How are we going to find them?"

James sighed and looked at Remus, "Do we have to?"

"Apparently so," Remus replied.

James brought out a piece of think paper I think was called parchment and held it in front of me. The boys looked around.

"Oh yay... A spare bit of parchment," I said sarcastically.

James sighed and tapped paper with his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

And lines started appearing on the paper. James handed me the parchment so I could read the front.

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs would like to present the Marauder's Map," I read aloud. I looked at them. "Cool. So it's a map. Does it do anything else."

"Open it," Remus instructed.

I did. I gasped when I saw. "Oh my... Wow..."

"There they are," Remus said, pointing at the moving footsteps that were labled my sisters. They were closely followed by two more footsteps labled Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. "Charms corridor and heading towards the library. We'll head to the Astronomy Tower."

"What? Why?" James and I asked.

"Becuase you obviously have a love of star gazing," Remus said. "That's where they'd look next."

"Wow. Remus, is your real name Sherlock Holmes?" I asked him, looking innocent.

"Um... no?" Remus asked. "Who's Sherlock Holmes."

My face grew a grin as we started to walk to the Astronomy Tower. "Sherlock Holmes is a world famous fictitious character who solves mysteries. He's a detective inspector, I think. I don't know. I'm reading a modernised version back home."

"With the carer who does bad things?" James asked.

I froze and they took four more steps before looking back at me. "I told you about Mad Mike?"

"You also told us about times where he has nearly gotten you," Remus said.

We started walking again.

"Let us help you," said James. "Let us get you and your sisters out of there."

"Not my sisters," I grumbled.

"Why not your sisters?" Remus asked. "Surely you wouldn't leave them to be prey to that evil man?"

"No. See... I only see them in the summer," I said and looked at the ground ahead of me instead of at either of them. "And only when I bump into them outside."

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"They got adopted by a witch not long after Lara's third year and Hunter's first year ended," I said.

"So... Your only family left you behind?"

"Mad Mike wasn't the carer then. We had this nice woman... But she suffered an annuerism or something and died," I told them. We kept walking. There was a little silence which I had to break. "I want to break free from there... I really do... It's just... Where would I go?"

"Do a Sirius. Come live with me. I know my mother always wanted a daughter but she never had one," James said.

"Oh, yeah. Just throw the muggle in with the one thing she hates most. Magic," I scowled. "I'm sure your parents would object."

"No. They wouldn't. James' parents are very nice, caring and compassionate people," Remus said as we rounded a corner and bumped into the very people we were looking for.

I didn't waste any time in yanking the wrists of Sirius and Creepy Peter from Lara and Hunter who glared at the Marauders behind me.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked, my hands on my hips.

"You shouldn't hang around these people, Ash. They're bad influences," said Lara.

"I would have thought you'd know by now not to mess with people I like, Lara," I growled at my older sister. I turned to Hunter. "And you. You shouldn't gossip."

"I wasn't. I was a tattler," Hunter said before clapping a hand over her mouth.

"You fall for that every time," I said to her, patting her head. I glared at Lara. "Lara, I'll make my own friends. And I'll make friends with people who don't ditch me to go to lessons that don't occur on weekends."

"Look, I'm sorry but I had to go meet someone," Lara said.

"Oh? Well, you won't mind if I meet James and Sirius and Remus later?" I said. "You make a habit of ditching me, don't you, Lara. First you ditch me for a new home. Any other sister would have begged and pleaded and given her right arm to take both of her sisters, magical or not."

"Look, I'm sor-" said Lara but I cut her off.

"And those plans we made every summer? What happened to them? You stood me up each time, Lara!" I said, growing angry. The boys backed off a bit. "And when I got here to come watch your stupid tournament thing, you ditched me again just so you could go see someone else!"

"Ash, I-" Lara started again.

"No. You're a bad friend, Lara. Not only a bad friend but a bad sister," I said and turned around. I grabbed Sirius' hand and dragged him off, the other Marauders following.

I don't know where I was going but I needed to be somewhere else. Angrily, I led the Marauder's until I was undoubtedly lost. I sighed and looked at them.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked.

"I-I'm fine," I lied. Truthfully, I was amazed with myself. I was never like this. I was a nice person usually. Ish. But I just said those things, in front of Hunter, in front of the Marauders and, worst of all, I said them to Lara. I was glad I had though. I felt a little lighter. A little less like I hated magic.

"Come on," Sirius said and hugged me. "Let's go find some place."

"I want her to move in with us," James said suddenly to Sirius.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"You remember what she said about the carer? Last night?"

"Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I remember," Sirius said, his hug tightening considerably.

I tapped his shoulder. "Can't... breathe," I gasped to him.

"Oh. Sorry," Sirius apologized and let me go.

I took a deep and raw breath before swatting his arm. "What was that about?"

"I just think that man is disgusting," Sirius said. "No one should have to put up with that or even luckily escape."

"I know... But about my moving in, I don't think it'll be happening, guys," I said.

"Why's that?"

"I just met you people!" I reasoned. "You don't know me very well. You only want to take me in because you feel sorry for me."

James looked at Sirius and grinned. Sirius narrowed his eyes at his best friend. It was like an unspoken conversation was occurring. The pair ended up grinning.

"I have a solution," James said. "Stay and let us get to know you."

"Uhuh,. Stay. Stay where? My stay in the castle is up after Saturday," I said, crossing my arms and jutting a hip.

"Hogsmeade!" Peter spoke up.

"Where in Hogsmeade? I have no money," I said. "No money means no food, water, clothes or anything else I might need."

"We could see if you could get a job waitressing at the Hog's Head?" Peter offered again.

I growled at Peter and he shrunk a little into himself.

"The Three Broomsticks?" James said, giving this stupid idea some serious thought.

"What? I'm sixteen! I'm not going to play barmaid," I said, looking at the boys. I flicked my blonde hair from my eyes.

"There's that newly opened tea shop," Sirius put in.

"That would be better for her. It closes at five every day so we could visit often," Remus said.

"Okay, and even if I get a job there, where am I staying?" I asked.

"Um..." James thought aloud. "Oh! You could stay at the Three Broomsticks. We could convince Rosmerta to let you stay there until the train home from school."

"That would be two weeks, James," I pointed out.

"It's perfect!" Sirius said. "We could get to know you better, you can get a decent job, we can pay for your room for two weeks."

"You're all certifiably insane! Have you all had a lobotomy?" I asked, knitting my eyebrows.

"A what?" they asked.

"It's a surgery where they cut your head open and shop some of your brain off before closing you back up. It makes you brain dead," I told them.

"We're not brain dead so I'm going to say no we have not," Remus said and I laughed.

"Nice one, Remus. You aren't? Well, not you, Remmy," I joked. "But definitely James, Sirry here and Creeper- I mean Peter."

"Creeper?" Peter asked curiously.

"Um... Yeah," I said slowly. "Slip of the tongue. Don't think anything of it, Peter. It was only a mistake. Something that I didn't even mean to say or even think."

"I have to go. Professor Slughorn wants to see you," James said. "We'll take you."

"We will?" Sirius asked, surprised.

"Yes. Yes, we will," James said, raising an eyebrow. "Because she doesn't know where the dungeons are. Nor who Slughorn is."

"Oh. Right. So we'll take her," Sirius said.

"Brilliant," Peter complimented.

"So... Shall we show the princess of the Marauders where to find the dungeons?" Sirius asked, patting my head.

I jerked my head up and went to bite him. I purposefully missed him and he jerked back just in case I'd really sink my teeth in.

"In case you boys haven't noticed, I'm no princess," I giggled and tapped Sirius' arm playfully. I linked arms with Remus and poked my tongue out to the Marauders. "Come on then. We're off to see the wizard."

"Uh... Which one?" Remus asked as I started to walk, pulling him.

"It's a muggle thing," I laughed. I grinned and pulled Sirius to my other arm then barked, "James! Link on!"

"But-"

"What? No."

"James," I warned and James rushed to link with Sirius. "Good. Peter?"

Peter nearly fell over himself to link with Remus.

"What now?" James asked.

"Now? Now, we skip!" I said.

"Uh-uh," Sirius said.

"Hell no!" James input.

Remus looked at Peter with wide eyes and Peter himself squeaked.

Thing is, I started skipping already, leading the four guys with me. They soon got into it when I started to sing a song from the musical The Wizard of Oz. Sure, I got the words wrong but I'm not good with song lyrics. "We're off to see the wizard! The wonderful wizard of Oz! We're off to see him because because becaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaause of the wonderful things he does!"

The boys laughed as I sang and broke away to spin like the lady from the movie A Sound of Music. I stopped and nearly fell but the boys caught me.

"I forgot why I hated you people then," I said. "Of course, I don't hate you four. You're the exceptions to it all."

"And why is that?" Remus asked.

"You... You guys," I said, thinking. "You're all so damn likable! Even Peter!"

"Huh?" Peter asked.

"Nothing," I said and poked my tongue out.

They showed me down to the dungeons where I was basically shoved into the potions classroom by the guys, Sirius and James with me, Remus and Peter following.

"Professor Slughorn?" James called and a huge walrus of a man basically materialized froma cupboard.

"Ah. Mr Potter, you brought Miss Jones. Thank you," said the watery eyed professor. "Ah, hello, Remus. And you... Percy."

"Peter," Wormtail corrected miserably.

"Righto. Miss Jones, are you aware that I am having a party to celebrate the end of the Triwizard Tournament?" asked the professor. I shook my head and he continued, "Oh ho! Well, I am and you are invited. As are Mr Lupin and Mr Potter here. You may bring a guest."

"Uh... Sirius?" I asked, looking at him. "May as well be you."

"Uh, thanks," Sirius said, shrugging.

"Wonderful!" clapped the professor. "Well, I'll see you four tomorrow night. Goodbye, children."

We were ushered out and the guys looked at me. Sirius looked plain at ease and James was raising an eyebrow. Remus, as per usual, looked a little worried and Peter looked blank. I blinked back at each face. I had no idea what they were all thinking.

"That's it," James said after a minute of them all staring. Now every one eyeballed him! What was he up to? "You are staying at my house from now on. No excuses. Nothing."

"What? No. I'm not going to, James," I growled.

"Ash. You're a muggle. You have sisters with magic. You're alone in the world and when you're home, you're trapped with a disgusting monster," Sirius listed. "I agree with James. You are living with us from now on."

"I can't."

"Why the bloody hell not?" Remus asked, surprising us all. He went a little pink but was otherwise keeping his determined expression.

"Because. I can't... I can't leave the others there!" I said, finally coming up with a good reason why and shadowing anything ugly in my thoughts.

"Of course... There are others..." Sirius said, thinking.

"How many?" James asked.

"I think, unless someone's been transferred in whilst I'm here, that there are... five others," I said, counting names. "Elora, Keane, Valerie, Jem and Sophia. Note how three of them are girls."

"Ages?" James asked as if he were plotting something.

"I hope you aren't offering them all into your home, James," I said. I sighed and listed. "The youngest is seven. The eldest is seventeen. Not that age matters to Mad Mike."

"No. No, I want to end it," James said. He looked at Remus and Sirius then Peter. "Sirius? How do you feel about going to stay there for a few days to keep an eye on her as the pair of you gather information and proof?"

Sirius' eyes widened. "Wh-what?"

"What? No. Uh-uh. Not happening," I said, shaking my head. "No."

"Ash," James sighed. "Look. No one deserves to be treated that way."

"I'm not going to let him do it. I mean, what if he gets caught! And imagine what will happen to me if _I_ got caught," I pointed out.

"It's a chance we have to take," Sirius said. "I'll go."

"You're mad men!" I said dryly. "You're all mad. Mad, mad, mad, mad! Madder than a hatter!"

"Huh?" asked the boys.

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. Look, James, as noble as this all is, what then? When you and Sirius have school, what am I going to do?"

No replies.

"I could work but what would muggle money be to you people?" I asked, looking around at each face. "I can't work in the wizard world. That would be absurd. I have no magic."

"Fine. Fine," James said. "We're still setting you and the people there free. One way or another, we're going to stop the cruelty."

"James... Guys..." I sighed. "Fine. Fine. We'll do that."

I wanted to change the subject but what to? Luckily, I didn't have to.

"Oh look. It's Snivellus," Sirius said and pointed.

The boys and myself turned to see a greasy haired, hook nosed boy trying to sneak past. He froze.

"Who's this?" I asked.

"None of your business, muggle," said the boy. When he said the word muggle, I clearly detected the trace of disgust in his voice.

"This is Severus Snape. He's a Slytherin," said James, sneering at the Slytherin.

"Yeah? Well, he's rude to boot. If I were that ugly, I'd hang myself," I said, glaring. If it weren't for the Marauders being around, I'd make a comment on how freakish he was for having magic. As it was, the Marauders were laughing at what I said.

"Why would I do that? That's a cowardly muggle thing to do," Snape snapped.

"Bad comeback," I grinned. "You're stupid as well as ugly, I see."

"Shut up," said Snape, glaring at me. Quicker than my eyes could detect, he had a wand in his hand. But the Marauders were quicker.

"Expelliarmus!" Remus called out and Snape's wand flew from his hand.

I caught a look of pure terror on Snape's face and I stopped my grinning.

"Levicorpus!" James called out and Snape was magically lifted by the ankle.

Snape looked even more scared now.

"No," I said quietly. Then again, louder this time. "No. James, stop it. Let him down."

"What? He was going to hex you!" James argued.

"Sirius," I said, looking at my friend.

Sirius looked me in the eye and sighed. "James? Let him down. Please. For her."

James sighed and pointed his wand again. "Finite incantatem."

Severus dropped and looked up. He scowled at us all.

"You're lucky our friend is more compassionate than we are," Sirius called to him, taking me by the shoulder and leading me away.

"I don't need compassion from a filthy muggle," he said.

Sirius stopped.

"Dog Star," I growled.

"Come on, Padfoot," Remus said, taking his shoulder and turning him around.

"Sirius, come on," I said and pulled him with me.

I demanded they explain themselves. I wanted to know why Snape feared them. I wanted to know why Snape hated the Marauders. I wanted to know where their reputations had come from. I wanted to know everything. And they explained in detail for me. I made sure they left nothing out by asking Remus.

"So you've always hated him and he's always hated you," I recounted. "For no real apparent reason?"

"None at all," James said.

"I don't like him," I sighed. We'd gone to my room after the show of magic.

"Then why did you make us stop?" Peter asked.

"Because. I saw how terrified he was. I could relate. Mad Mike, remember?" I said.

"Oh," said the boys quietly.

"I don't like seeing it," I said. "Just... Try not to do that kind of thing around me? I don't need more nightmares."

"Nightmares..." Sirius repeated softly.

"Come on," I said. "I'm already mourning tomorrow. Sirius, what am I supposed to wear to this party thing? Remus, any ideas?"

"It doesn't matter. We can always transfigure your clothes for you anyway," James said, looking out the window.

"We're meant to wear dress robes," Remus told me. "That means we wear these special robes and the ladies can wear pretty dresses."

"Oh great," I said, frowning. "I hate dresses."

"You wear skirts, don't you?" Remus asked.

"They're the furthest I go, really," I said. "I've never really loved skirts and I've always loathed dresses. With a burning passion of a thousand suns."

"Poetic," Sirius said.

"I think I just quoted Shakespeare," I shrugged.

"So you don't own any dresses? At all?" James asked.

"Nope," I said, shaking my head.

"We can ask Hunter," Remus said. "We all know she's got some nice dresses. A little transfiguring and it'll fit Ash just fine."

"Oh sure. Ask my sister," I said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes. "Remus, they hate you guys, remember?"

"I tutor your sister on occasion. She owes me," Remus grinned.

"Tutor?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She sometimes struggles with Defence Against the Dark Arts," Remus said.

"Ah," I said, not really understanding. "Will this work?"

"Of course it will," Sirius beamed.

"No doubt about it," James input.


	5. Chapter 5

Since I couldn't persuade the Marauders not to get a dress from Hunter (and believe me, I tried. I tried so desperately indeed) I ended up staring at my reflection in the mirror of my room in disgust. I turned this way and that, scowling and hating the feeling of the ensemble.

There was a knock at my door and I sighed. "Come in," I called out, knowing it would be the Marauders. I turned when the door opened and scowled, my hands on my hips. "Remus. This dress looks-"

"Oh wow," Sirius said on his first glimpse.

The dress was red and reached my knees. It had a lace part at the top which exempt it from being called strapless however a fair amount of my back was not covered. I scowled every time I reached back and touched my shoulder blades. I hated dresses.

I frowned. "No. It looks-"

"Ash! You look gorgeous," said Lily Evans, walking in with James. "I thought that Hunter would pick that one. It's lovely. It really looks pretty on you."

"Uh... Thanks," I said and Lily let go of James' arm to approach. "Oh, come here. Let me sort your hair out."

"My hair?" I asked, my hand rising to my iron straight and blonde hair.

Lily held her wand up and I felt my hair warm up a little then the heat faded. Lily turned me back to my mirror and my eyes widened. My hair was curled loosely. I had to admit, it looked good. Even if a freak had done it for me.

Sirius and the Marauders (minus Peter, I noticed, who wasn't going) came in with another girl who was introduced to me as Nymphadora.

"Wotcha," she greeted with a big smile. She had bright bubblegum pink hair and her eyes were a lovely lavender which complimented the dress she was wearing really well. "I'm Nymphadora. Everyone calls me Tonks."

"Nice to meet you," I smiled as she hugged me.

"Tonks is a metamorph-" Sirius started.

"Remus said she's a metamorphmagus," I said, looking at Sirius. "He was telling me you had cousins here."

"Yes well... Dora is one of the good ones," Sirius said, sighing. He linked his arm with mine. "Well, everyone. Shall we?"

The group of us set off with Sirius and I in the rear. Everyone was laughing and chatting and I found myself hardly able to listen to Sirius, never mind talk to him.

"Are you okay, Ash?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine," I sighed. "Just a little nervous, I guess. Lara's meant to be going."

"Don't worry about it," Sirius said and smiled. He sniffed the air and then stopped walking to lean into my neck and smell.

"Um... Sirius?" I asked.

He stood straight again and we continued walking. "Sorry. What's that perfume?"

"Um... It's called Charlie," I said. "It's from a company called Revlon."

"I like it. Sweet but tangy," he said, nodding.

"Thanks. I'm glad you like it. I like it too or I wouldn't have bought it," I said and laughed.

Sirius laughed and we continued chatting as we got to the party. It was filled with... interesting characters... I suppose. Witches and wizards were everywhere. I was introduced to a vampire. I got a little nervous so Sirius guided me away to dance. We met up with the others by the fire not long after eleven o'clock.

"She met the vampire?" Remus asked.

"Yes," I nodded. I sat beside Tonks who was changing her hair colours to see which looked best with her new lavender eyes.

"Funny, huh?" James said, winking at his fellow Marauders.

"Shut up," Lily scolded. "She's a muggle. Don't you know what muggles believe about vampires."

"That they live in castles, dress in suits and capes, have pointy fangs and say 'I vant to suck your blood,'" I said, shivering a little and imitating Dracula.

"I've never heard a vampire say that," Remus muttered.

"I'm bored," said Tonks. "Let's do something."

"Like what?" Sirius asked his cousin.

"We could... Oh! We could play truth or dare," she said.

"What about Seven Minutes in Heaven?" I foolishly suggested without thinking.

"What's that?" asked practically everyone in the conversation.

"Well... Someone goes into a closet and someone either volunteers or is elected to go in," I explained. Why did I suggest this horrible game? "A guy and a girl. And they have seven minutes to do anything."

"Sounds cool," James said, a smirk growing on his face as he pulled Lily closer to him.

"Sounds risky," Remus frowned.

"Live a little, Moony," Sirius said.

"Shut up, Padfoot," Remus returned.

"Uh, boys? Are we playing or not?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, let's play," I agreed.

"It's a bad idea," Remus sighed.

We outvoted Remus. We all agreed to leave the party and head to my room to play because my room actually had a closet that no one could catch us in. Once inside my room, the fireplace was lit by Lily and everyone kicked off their shoes for no apparent reason other than comfortability.

"Okay, who first?" I asked. No one volunteered. "Hm... Remus, go in."

Remus looked at me with wide eyes and sighed. He walked in and closed the door behind him.

"What now?" Sirius asked.

"The next player," I said, rolling my eyes.

I pointed at Tonks. She gained a huge smile and entered the closet. I started to count. The others talked and as soon as the seven minutes were up, I knocked on the door. Tonks came out looking proud of herself and Remus stumbled out, his eyes like saucers. He looked shocked. Next went James and Lily. It took three knocks to get them to come out. Lily smirked as she walked out. James... Well James... I can't describe how James was.

And then I was pushed into the closet with Sirius.

"Hi," I whispered.

"Hey," he replied. "I think we'll play something else after this."

"It's a bit more boring than I thought," I giggled. "Come on. The game means we have to do something."

"Alright," Sirius said, lighting up his wand. I could see his face and I could see his smile. It was quite a nice smile, I'll admit.

I closed my eyes and Sirius' lips touched mine. They were softer than I'd have thought. I liked it. His kiss tasted like apples and pears. He brought me closer to him and it deepened before we knew it. Sirius Black was a great kisser. He was an amazing kisser.

It was too soon when the knock came, telling us our time was up. I wiped my mouth quickly and opened the door to step out. I smiled a little and sighed, "Tonks? That game of Truth or Dare?"

"Oh? But I liked this game," Tonks said, grinning a little. "Anyway, shall we go for classic or modern?"

"Modern?" Lily asked.

"Truth, dare, double dare, love, kiss or promise," Tonks listed.

"Let's do that one," James grinned.

We all sat around my room and began the game. It was interesting with more choices. The only differences with the dare and double dare was the fact that

"Lily?" Tonks said on the fourth round. "Truth, dare, double dare, love, kiss or promise?"

"Uh... Double dare," Lily said, grinning at the Marauders.

"I dare Lily to go and break into Professor Slughorn's private office..." started James, thinking.

"Oh! And steal his alcohol stash! Everything from his vodka to his brandy to his firewhiskey!" Sirius said.

Lily shrugged. "Easily done. I'll be back in ten minutes."

So Lily left the room and the game went on. It was my turn.

"I pick... Kiss," I smirked.

"Kiss... Oh, kiss Sirius!" Tonks said, laughing a little. She didn't expect me to shrug and take Sirius by the shoulders then kiss him.

"There," I said when I was finished.

"Wow... And she didn't explode in the process," laughed Remus.

"Shut up," said a pink Sirius. "Girls have kissed me before you know."

"Like who?" laughed James.

"Like... Mary Ann... Amelia Brook... Emma Smith... Marlene... Juliet... Katrina... Valerie... Sophia..." Sirius listed. Hearing that he had kissed others annoyed me a little. "Just some of the many."

"Maybe I should have gone for dare," I muttered under my breath.

When Lily came back, we started drinking. We danced, we sang, we drank, we danced some more. I remember the taste of lips on mine without an inkling of whether that happened or not. The games got more and more wild. Soon, the clock stroke three in the morning and everything ended. We were all exhausted and yawning.

When I woke up in the morning, I had to fight my urge to scream. Once again, I woke up with Sirius in my bed with me. This time, he was shirtless and had his arms wrapped around me. I wriggled free and sat up, looking around at the damage. Tonks had slept with her head against the grandfather clock and Remus was curled up beneath the window. I found James and Lily asleep inside the bathtub together (clothed if rumpled) when I went to investigate.

Sighing, I took the opportunity to get changed, washing as quietly as I could in the bathroom. I found some of my favourite bell bottoms and a random shirt with a lemon on it. I stood up straight to put my blonde hair up, concentrating on doing it without my reflection and looking beyond the window at the forest ahead. I dropped my hair from it's twisted bun before I could tie it up because I heard a whistle. First I looked down and found Remus was still asleep. I turned and found Sirius propped up, posing in what he thought was probably a sexy position.

"Sirius," I whispered, rolling my eyes. "Be quiet. Everyone else is asleep."

"I got a nice eyeful there, Ash," Sirius whispered over to me.

"Push off," I said and sighed, starting my hair again. This time, he didn't make me drop it by saying something. More like his hands crept around my waist and he kissed my neck. Scowling, I turned and raised my eyebrows at him.

"You didn't mind kissing me last night," Sirius smirked.

"Don't be dim, Sirius," I said and gave up on tying my hair into a bun, messily putting it into a loose ponytail instead. I stepped away from him and he sat on my bed again. I nudged Remus with my foot."

He woke up all bleary eyed and looked up at me. "Mph?" he asked and sat up, rubbing his eyes and sniffing a little.

"Go wake up James and Lily in the bathroom, will you?" I asked him and went about the task of getting Tonks to wake up. I tried everything. When James and Lily were out of the bathroom, considerably and appropriately red in the face, I was still trying to get Tonks to move a little.

"Try this," Sirius said and aimed his wand at Tonks. "Aquamenti!"

Water shot from his wand and hit Tonks. She shot awake, coughing and spluttering. "Sirius!" she howled, coughing. Lily and Remus had to hold her back to stop her from attacking her cousin. "Sirius!"

"Guys? Don't you have lessons?" I said, gesturing to the door.

They all looked from me to the grandfather clock. Then back to me. Lily, James and Tonks rushed for the door, Remus beating them by a long shot.

Sirius stayed where he was. I glared at him for a moment and he just went to close the door. He looked at me with curious eyes.

"What is it, Sirius?" I asked, my tone giving away that I wanted him out the room.

"Most girls would have want to bed me after a kiss like any of the ones from the past twenty-four hours," he said. "Here you are getting rid of me. Or trying. Ash, you are a puzzle to me."

"Why's that?" I asked, my own curiosity getting the better of me.

"Because for the first time, it's the other way around, Ash," he said and slipped out the door before I could react.

My mouth hung open and my eyes stayed glued to the spot where the wizard had been. I'd never considered it. Me with a relationship like that with anyone, not even for one night. The man aimed high. I shook my head and had one of the worst ideas pop into my cranium.

I grabbed a jacket and went off in search of Lara. I found her having breakfast in the Great Hall, a leather bound book in her hand as she ate a piece of toast.

Silently, I slipped to sit next to her.

"Yes, Ash?" Lara asked, not looking up from her book. "Come to tell me what the Marauders have done to you?"

"They haven't done anything to me," I told her. I cleared my throat. "Sirius wants to sleep with me though..."

Lara nearly choked on her toast. She looked at me curiously. "Tell me," she said, putting the book down.

"Well..." I said and took a deep breath. "I was invited to Slughorn's party last night because of you and I went with Sirius. And we got bored so a bunch of us went back to my room to play some games. We played seven minutes in heaven- chew the toast, Lara. You might choke. And I kissed him and it was nice and stuff. Then I chose kiss for truth or dare and Tonks had me snog him so I did and then we dared someone to steal some drink and we all got drunk. I only remember two kisses but there could have been more... And this morning, he stayed behind to tell me that I was a wonder to him and that he wanted me to sleep with him and he left before I could react to it."

I took another deep breath at the end and Lara stared at me for a minute before returning to her toast.

"He didn't try to do anything?" she asked. "I wonder why."

"I told the Marauders about Mad Mike," I blurted out and this time Lara choked. I tapped her back hard and she sorted herself out.

"What?" she demanded. "Why? Why?"

"Because I was drunk on Sunday night," I shrugged.

"You like drinking a lot, huh," Lara noted. She shut her book and stood up. "Ash, how did they react?"

"I was cuddling up to Sirius and his grip tightened. I think the boys gasped," I shrugged. "James wants me to move in with him and Sirius. I'm trying to dissuade him."

"No. Don't discourage that. I want you out of there myself," Lara said. "I'm just too far away to come get you and the witch Hunter and I live with has no room."

"Uhuh. Well, now James wants to end Mad Mike's reign of terror and set the other kids free too," I sighed. "I guess one way or another, I'll end up staying somewhere for a while."

"Uhuh. Marauders and Hunter coming through the doors," Lara said, looking beyond me to the doors. "Hunter looks pissed off."

"Someone probably told her I spilled some firewhiskey on her dress which was slightly transfigured so I could fit in it," I shrugged.

"No. This looks like she's pissed over non-material things," Lara said and grabbed her book then my collar to drag out from the Gryffindor table. She held her book under her elbow as she grabbed Hunter's ear. Hunter had been yelling at the Marauders. I smiled at the Marauders as I was dragged past them. Sirius winked at me and I rolled my eyes back.

Lara stopped and glared down at us. "Hunter. Calm down. Ash. Stop binge drinking. I've got enough to cope with at the moment with my last challenge coming up. I could die, girls! Don't make what could be the last few days of my life miserable."

"Sorry," Hunter and I mumbled at the same time.

"Good," she said and marched off to the staircase.

I turned around and saw the Marauders. Walking over to them, I sighed and put my hands in my pockets. "What's shaking boys?"

"Sirius told us what he said to you," Remus blurted out and Sirius elbowed him hard.

I shook my head. I started to walk away. "I'll be in the kitchens all day if you need me..."

"We know Sirius does," Peter laughed wickedly.

"Wormtail!" Sirius said as I continued to walk away.

"What? Wormtail actually said something quick and witty," James said, snickering.

"Boys," I said loud enough for them to hear. "All the same. The bloody lot of them."


	6. Chapter 6

I saw the light leave her eyes and time stood still for me.

It had all been fine this morning when I was with Sirius and the boys. They still hadn't given up on the sexual jokes designed to taunt Sirius and partly to taunt me. I didn't listen to them. I was nervously poking my bacon and egg sandwich. Today was the day of the final challenge and Lara was either going to win or lose.

James nudged me when he noticed I wasn't my usual self. "Ash? Are you okay?"

"Lara," I mumbled.

"She'll be fine," Remus assured me.

"Yeah," Peter nodded.

"She is a Gryffindor, after all," Sirius added.

"I don't get this all thing. All the good guys are in Gryffindor and all the bad guys are in Slytherin. Do the rest just go where they please?" I asked, looking around at the four Hogwarts table and avoiding eye contact with the French and Bulgarian students.

"Ravenclaws are smart and Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders," Remus shrugged.

I wrinkled my nose. "What's a Hufflepuff?"

"Uh, Ash? I'm in Hufflepuff," said Hunter as she joined us, sitting beside me.

"Oh," I said. I shrugged and bit into my sandwich. "I thought you sucked at finding things."

"Actually, I'm very good at finding things," Hunter said and bit into an apple from a bowl of fruit on the table.

"Then find where you put my Beatles record," I said, raising an eyebrow.

"You had a Beatles record?" she asked.

"Yes," I grinned. "It's yet to be released!"

Hunter punched my arm and I scowled.

Lara's entrance was greeted by cheers as she joined us at the Gryffindor table. I could tell she was nervous by the way she ate. And she barely ate anything. She nibbled the corner of her toast but that was it. She didn't make eye contact with anyone and barely spoke. She shook a little and I could see her murmuring to herself inaudibly. My sister was a nervous wreck.

I leaned forward. "Lara. Calm down," I insisted. "You'll be fine. Heck, you'll win!"

"Thanks," she said quietly.

Remus had to escort me to see a new professor at the school. Professor McGonagall. I don't remember going past the door.

Everything had gone dark. I was cold. In my head, thoughts rushed by before I could catch them. Images started to flicker and then I was watching a scene. It was obviously the night of the Slughorn party in the scene.

I was dancing with Sirius, my head on his chest. I was singing a song drunkenly. I don't know where it came from.

"Once I had a husband, you know the sort of chap. I met him at a dancing hall. He came on with a chat," I sang softly to Sirius. "He said my eyes were deep blue pools, my skin as soft as snow. He said that I was lovelier than Marilyn Monroe. And we went dancing, we went dancing..."

Sirius laughed a little and spun me around. "I'd say those things to you... Your eyes are dark and deep blue pools, your skin is softer than velvet and snow is too rough to be compared to it and your hair is softer than silk and finer than gold."

"You're a sap," I accused drunkenly and smiled.

"I suppose," said Sirius. It was clear he could hold down a drink better than I could there.

I stopped dancing and looked up at Sirius. "Sirry?" I asked softly. "Sirius, kiss me."

Sirius didn't hesitate. He didn't ask to make sure if I wanted it. He kissed me softly and held me close.

When the scene ended, I was snapped back to reality. I was sat down in a room with my hands and feet bound. I had a gag in my mouth and the room was dark. I looked up and found the night sky. I whimpered and shook my head. I was scared and had no idea what was going on. A flicker of movement caught my eye and I turned to look.

There were others with me. A little girl dressed in powder blue- like the Frenchies- and a boy with a red eagle on a sash around his arm. They had glassy eyes and stared ahead, unaware that they were bound and gagged too. In fact, they were unaware of where they were.

Another movement and I shot my head around to see. Just my luck that I spun to quickly and ended up with a crick in my neck. As I sorted that out, I noticed something. My hair moved without me. Like someone was breathing on it. I turned slowly and my eyes widened in terror because looming over me stood a dragon. I whimpered and the dragon roared.

There was a yell and the dragon and I both looked to find Lara, obviously angry and charging towards the dragon with a sword in her hand and her wand in the holster at her hip. The dragon roared and backed off. Lara didn't waste time and bent down to undo the rope around my hands and feet. She took away my gag and helped me up.

"What's going on?" I asked her, scared.

"I have to get you back to safety," Lara said. "It's the task."

"Oh gee. Thanks," I scowled. I had a sash around my arm, I noticed for the first time with what I had come to recognise as the Hogwarts logo.

Lara grabbed my hand and started to drag me toward the way out. Apparently, we were inside a maze. Lara led me around many corners but I could tell she was panicking. We were lost. She had been the first to find her person but she was now lost.

"Take every left and the odd right?" I tried when we came to a point where we couldn't go any further.

"Good idea," she said, taking the left. This part of the maze seemed to go on forever. We stopped. "Maybe not..."

"Hey, it was an idea," I said. "Don't shoot it till you try it."

"Yeah well... We're lost and I have no idea how we're to get out of here. We're meant to look for the blue glow of the Triwizard Cup," Lara said.

I went to lean against the wall of the maze but I found it wasn't there and fell straight to the ground. I cussed and sat up, staring at the sky above. "I think I found why this seems to go on forever. It's like a freaking goblin maze."

"How would you know that?" Lara asked, wrinkling her nose. "And goblins don't have mazes. They run our banking systems."

I looked at her. "I read a book with it in."

Lara looked confused right from the word read.

"What?" I questioned. "I have to have something to do when avoiding Mad Mike."

"Ash, I- RUN!" she said, screaming at me. I looked and found the dragon had hunted us down. I scrambled to my feet and Lara and I ran, taking the odd corners and trying to reach the centre of the maze where Lara guessed the cup was.

All I could think about was Sirius through out the whole thing. James, Sirius, Remus and Creeper- I mean, Peter. The week had gone by so well with them and now here I was lost in a maze with my older sister. I almost ran past an opening in the maze when Lara grabbed my collar and made me look.

There was a blue glow and a cup standing on a pedestal. The roar of the dragon made me flinch and we were off to grab the cup. The walls started closing in.

"We won't make it," I yelled to my sister.

"We will!" she screamed. "We will! Just run, Ash! Run!"

The dragon was gaining and the walls were closing in quicker. The walls were nearly crushing us when Lara pushed me into the circular clearing where the cup and it's pedestal stood proudly. I turned and looked as the walls stopped. They quickly moved back into place and I saw why.

My sister had the dragon's claw stuck inside her. It had dislodged from the dragon's foot and shot through her back and poked out a little from her chest. She took some shaky breaths and fell to her knees.

"Ash..." she murmured. "Mama and Papa were proud of you... I'm proud of you..."

And then the sparkle from her eyes disappeared, leaving me numb and staring at her body.

The dragon roared and I looked up. I rushed to her side and took the sword she had been carrying. The dragon swooped in to kill me too and I screamed at it, throwing the sword like a javelin (something I'm rather good at). The sword hit it and the dragon flew off, leaving me alone with the dead body of my older sister.

I backed away and hit the pedestal, knocking the cup over. Without thinking, I picked the damn thing up. It happened as soon as I held on. There was a jerk from my naval like some butcher had put a meat hook in and was jerking forward by a crane. There was a howling wind and a rush of colour around me and I couldn't let go of the damn cup.

When I did let go of the cup, I was thrown forward onto my back. Hands pulled me up and distantly I heard my name. I looked around and found Hunter in tears and running toward me. Her hug hit me and knocked the breath out of my lungs but I didn't do anything. I didn't speak. I blinked and breathed. The place was silent, bar for my sister's wails.

"My sister is dead," I announced to no one in particular, glaring at the stupid Triwizard Cup. "My older sister is dead."

I pushed past my sister who was sobbing harder than ever now. I picked up the cup and dropped it, kicking it hard with the side of my foot like a rugby ball. I turned and ran, getting a little lost. I ran to the castle and when I couldn't think straight enough to find my room, I opened a broom cupboard and stepped inside to cry.

I sat in the corner, my knees soaking up the salty tears from my face. I heard the door open and close and footsteps. Someone sat beside me.

"She died... Right in front of me, she died. I saw it go," I sobbed and looked up. I couldn't see who was in with me. "I... I never hated my sister... Not really... I was annoyed with her at most..."

It was Sirius who spoke, sat beside me. "James and the others are looking for you. I'm the one with the map..."

"Map?"

"A map of Hogwarts that shows you where people are," Sirius explained.

"Sirius, I'm scared... My father... then mother... and now my older sister..." I said, sniffing.

"Everything will be okay," Sirius said.

I spent the night crying into my bed. The Marauders, Lily, Hunter and Tonks were allowed to stay with me. Hunter was a wreck. I didn't cry any more. Not when I thought I was being watched anyway. I had to be strong for Hunter.

Hunter fell asleep on my bed when I was in the bathroom, silently crying into wads of toilet paper. I didn't sleep. I couldn't. Sirius stayed up with me.

I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't cry.

When morning came, I didn't move from where I was. Hunter woke up and drifted from my room. Lily and Tonks went to collect breakfast for me and the Marauders were silent for once.

"I'll do it," I said out of the blue when Lily and Tonks were gone.

"Do what?" Remus asked, eyeing me.

"I'll move in with James and Sirius," I said, my voice hollow and numb. "But we have to get my things from the orphanage... I have th-things that mother and father gave to me to..."

James and Sirius looked at each other and nodded.

Lily and Tonks came back and I barely ate. They all jabbered on about who knows what and I stared out of my window, thinking. A week before, I had come to watch my sister compete. I was there now mourning the death of her.

I was there for a further week than planned, sat up in my room in the castle. I was hollow, numb and cold. Towards the end of the week, I started to become myself again. As had Hunter. It was a defence mechanism that we had gotten from Lara herself.

When the time came, I did get on the train. I had enough sense to tell Sirius and James where to find me. Otherwise, Hunter would have had hell.

**A/N: ALL YOU LOVELY PEOPLE OUT THERE DESERVE A DOUBLE UPDATE! I am so sorry if you disliked this chapter. It was necessary for the plot. The way it was heading wasn't good enough. I know this chapter is shorter but this is all it could be.**


	7. AN

Hello fans and readers!

Just dropping a line to let you know that I've gotten writer block on this story. If you want to PM me with what you, the valued reader, would like in the future to happen to Ash between now and the time she heads back to face Mad Mike, PLEASE DO SO. Because I'm having serious trouble and I wanna skip ahead to the parts where I have ideas and a basic plot line but to me, that's a bad plot line and one heck of a jump.

Love you all,

Shan


End file.
